Local beekeepers discuss ups and downs as National Honey Month kicks off

Their tattoos would tell you that they aren't afraid to be stung. That they're younger than 30 would tell you that they're willing to begin new adventures. But at first glance, you might not have pegged Dainan Alvidrez and Jess Janicek of Willoughby as beekeepers. The two are engaged to be married in October, meaning surrounding themselves by thousands of honey bees isn't what gets their hearts racing the most, but they are really into it. "It's fascinating just to come out here and just watch them work," Alvidrez said, holding a frame from his hive with the bumblers crawling in every direction. "The bees have drawn out the comb and started filling it with honey and capping it off for storage for the winter. That's what we end up stealing for harvest." This is their first year keeping bees. Cotton, because it is slow-burning, is packed loosely into an industry-standard tin smoker and set on fire. Smelling like musk cologne and the perfect summer campfire, the couple wafts the smoke around their hives, which calms the bees. The bees ?- tricked into thinking their habitat is on fire - begin to eat the honey they've produced in preparation for an emergency exit. Those moments when the bees are busy in anticipation is when apiculturists can inspect their hives or harvest the honey. The smoke, however, does not have the same calming effect on the beekeepers themselves ??- and there are plenty of reasons to worry. Alvidrez said he started keeping bees in response to hearing of the national problem facing the commercial industry known as Colony Collapse Disorder. "They're talking about a lot of states like California, there's not enough of a bee population to pollinate the crops especially almonds. ... You might only get half the almonds," Alvidrez said. The phenomena began in 2006 leaving hives empty with no explanation. "It's something that we don't necessarily have an issue out here in Ohio," Janicek said. "Not yet anyway." The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a 21.9 percent loss nationally in the 2011-12 winter, which is better than the 30 percent of previous years, according to the report. However, January 2012 is cited in the report as the fourth-warmest in United States history. "A warm winter means less stress on bee colonies and may help them be more resistant to pathogens, parasites and other problems," said Jeff Pettis, co-leader of the survey and research leader of the Agricultural Research Service, the USDA's scientific research agency. Area apiarists are still reporting loses of about 30 percent of their bees this past winter and blame mite-spread disease, beetles and, some said, long-term effects of pesticides. The Geauga County Bee Keepers are spending their long weekend at a booth at the Great Geauga County Fair providing education to visitors on the benefits of honey and why honey bees are important to farming. Today is the first day of National Honey Month, established in 1989 by the National Honey Board under the USDA. The group's president, Joe Cluts of Newbury, said he would like to believe problems of loss are getting better but worries they are not. "Cotton, soybean and corn, all those have the same genetically engineered pesticides in them. The bees take the pollen home, which has these pesticides in them and their young die off," Cluts said. He has been keeping bees since he was 11 years old. "We're running out of bee pasturage where I used to get a lot of pollen and honey out of my neighbors' fields. The fields are gone and there's houses there," he said. "The lawns now have no dandelions in them, no flowers at all so it's a pure desert of green. "If there's no bees, we won't have any bee-pollinated fruit. We'll be eating wind-pollinated things like oats and nuts." But the bee problem is not new and it has received widespread media attention. It's that coverage Gene McCune of Auburn Township said might be the only silver lining to the increase in loss. "A lot of people are concerned so that should help," he said. Twenty years ago, McCune said, 300 people attended an annual beekeeping consortium in March. Last year there were more than 1,000 people who came to express concerns over what they had heard in the news. Some were starting hives themselves, some, he said, were farmers wondering how it would affect their farms. "One-third of everything you eat is a product of bees," McCune said. "Bees are living in a toxic hell and dying a slow death." Again he pointed to neonicotinoid weed killers in addition to inconsistent winters and an on-going mite problem. "Three-quarters of the group has had some sort of bee problem," Cluts said. "Local farmers will tell you they can't afford not to use pesticides because they need the produce." A new generation of interested urban and suburban beekeepers would result in numeric growth that members of the Geauga County Beekeepers say is needed. That's where young beekeepers like Alvidrez and Janicek come in. And Tim Bailey said he tries to do his part because he also sees honeybees as important. He is the owner of Bailey Pest Control in Willoughby and does what he can to discourage the extermination of the bees. "The last few years we haven't had as many calls because they've been having some difficult times," he said, noting hearing of loss problems. "This morning I was at a house for a guy who thought he had a hornet problem and in a tree next to his house he said there's a hole they're going in and out - thousands going in and out - my guess is that they're getting ready to swarm," he said. In other situations, he would have called a beekeeper to remove the queen, with the expectation the rest of the hive will follow. In this case, he said they will leave on their own. He's been around insects long enough to know the difference in bugs with stingers. "A honeybee does not have a distinct yellow and black stripe like a yellow jacket - more of a dull brownish yellowish color," he said. Bailey used to take the queens home himself to produce honey before he became allergic to bees. "I can't talk for all exterminators but the ones that have any brains and any sensibility about the environment, if they can avoid destroying a honeybee hive they will." The practice is common among exterminators. As word gets out, beekeeping might be a more common backyard hobby. "Quite a lot of our friends want to get started and honestly it's just the click of a buy button online," Janicek said. But for now - like bees that smell smoke - Northeast Ohio beekeepers like Alvidrez and Janicek, Cluts and the rest of the Geauga Bee Keepers are left to keep calm and hive on, preparing for the uncertain winter ahead.

About the Author

Devon covers Painesville City and schools, in-depth topics and splits his time on the copy desk. He's traveled around the world, worked in TV and loves coffee, music, theater and the OU Bobcats. Reach the author at DTurchan@News-Herald.com
or follow Devon on Twitter: @DevonTurchan.